Re: TC Question and Discharge Safety - Lightning from Fingers

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: dhmccauley-at-spacecatlighting-dot-com 

No.  The RF currents ARE NOT passing through this guy's body.  He is wearing
a conductive suit over his entire body including his hands.  This allows the
conductive
suit to act as a faraday cage (sort of) and allow the current to pass from
the topload of the tesla coil, through the conductive suit, and discharge
from the guys fingers
which are also conductive.  No RF current is passing through the guy's body.

This is similar to what Jeff Parisse is doing at KVA Effects in California.
The link below is there great demonstration video showing huge tesla coils,
and many individuals doing the lightning from the
finger trick including one of the female members of GWAR.  (Big video
though - 55MB)
http://www.teslacoil-dot-com/files/power=kva_effects.mpg

If this guy IS NOT wearing a conductive suit, then yes, he IS slowly
toasting himself to an early grave.

Also, do not get any ideas from either of these videos.  This experiment is
extremely dangerous and performed by trained professional stuntmen.
To attempt this at home would surely win  you a Darwin Award for the year.

Dan

 > so i take it the guy sitting on top of the tesla coil in the hvfx
 > video,
 > http://www.hvfx.co.uk/video/lightningman.mpg
 > is slowly toasting himself to an early grave?.
 >
 > regards
 > richard
 > aus.
 >

 >  >
 >  > There is no such tesla coil capable of what you ask.  There are always
 >  > dangers involved.  Sure, you could take a metal rod and pull the arc of
 >  > most small tesla coils (up to about 4kV/30mA) as well as VTTCs and
STTCs
 > and
 >  > not really feel anything at all, but the RF currents are still
 >  > flowing through your tissue and causing damage.  Due to the high
frequency
 >  > nature of the electricity, your nerves do not feel the current, but be
 >  > aware,
 >  > that damage is likely being done.
 >  >
 >  > Also, many will state that skin effect will protect you from the
dangers
 > of
 >  > high frequency tesla coil discharges, but that is a myth.  Skin effect
 >  > really
 >  > has no effect on the human body.  Most of the RF current is flowing
 > through
 >  > your body and not on the skin.
 >  >
 >  > So when you ask if its safe to come into contact with the discharge of
a
 > TC,
 >  > the answer is, no.  Sure, you may not feel any immediate pain
 >  > when doing something like this, but doing this repeatedly may cause
long
 >  > term damage which may not show up for years to come.  Its always
 >  > best to watch from distance and not become part of the demo.
 >  >
 >  > Dan
 >  >
 >  >  > It appears I mis-stated my question. I am aware of the safety issues
 > with
 >  >  > the output of the NST or any AC source. What I was wanting to know
is
 >  >  > whether or not there is any size TC that it is safe to come in
contact
 >  > with
 >  >  > the output streamer, baring a strike to the primary while touching a
 >  >  > streamer.  If so, what are the specs for such a coil?
 >  >
 >  >
 >  >  > > > Can someone tell me the power range (ie. volt/amp rating) that
is
 >  >  > > > safe.  I am assuming that there is a point at which they become
 >  >  > >potentially
 >  >  > > > lethal and below that point they are safe. I have a 7.5 KV NST I
 > would
 >  >  > >like
 >  >  > > > to do something with but I don't know if I can use it for the
this
 >  > type
 >  >  > >of
 >  >  > > > coil. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
 >  >  > > >
 >  >  > > > Emmett
 >  >  > >
 >  >  > >You are incorrect in your assumption.
 >  >  > >Any voltage above 30V or so is considered hazardous at least by
 > various
 >  >  > >safety standards etc...although this
 >  >  > >is debated among different schools of thought.
 >  >  > >Although voltage doesn't kill, it is current that does the job.
 > However,
 >  >  > >given some value of resistance in the human body, the higher the
 >  >  > >voltage, the higher the current.
 >  >  > >
 >  >  > >There are no safe NSTs.  Any sized NST has the capacity to injure
or
 > even
 >  >  > >kill someone especially when connected to
 >  >  > >a circuit that contains capacitors such as a Tesla Coil.  For
example,
 > if
 >  >  > >you turn off your NST power at the peak point and have
 >  >  > >a primary tank capacitor with no or little bleeders, the primary
tank
 >  >  > >capacitors could be fully charged to the peak output voltage
 >  >  > >of the NST.
 >  >  > >
 >  >  > >Also, there are many things that will affect how dangerous a NST
can
 > be.
 >  >  > >For example, the impedance (resistance) of the human body
 >  >  > >for one.  The resistive path of the human body is greatly affected
by
 >  > many
 >  >  > >things including moisture, point of contact, and physical skin
 > thickness
 >  >  > >(such as
 >  >  > >broken skin or sores, callouses, etc...)  While you may survive to
 > coil
 >  >  > >another day with a shock from a 15kV/60mA in dry, normal
conditions,
 > your
 >  >  > >life
 >  >  > >may be abrubtly by a small 4kV/20mA NST if you happened to touch
the
 > high
 >  >  > >voltage through a sore or wet hand or something.
 >  >  > >
 >  >  > >The important thing here, is that no high voltage is safe and that
 >  > includes
 >  >  > >any type of NST whether its a small 4kV/10mA unit or a large
15kV/60mA
 >  >  > >unit.
 >  >  > >All should be treated with the utmost respect and no one should
become
 >  >  > >complacent around them.
 >  >  > >
 >  >  > >The following document on my website describes electrical safety
and
 > its
 >  >  > >effects on the human body.
 >  >  > >http://www.easternvoltageresearch-dot-com/datasheets/safety.pdf
 >  >  > >
 >  >  > >Dan
 >  >  > >
 >  >  > > > I am wanting to build a small coil that would be safe to run
 > connected
 >  >  > >to
 >  >  > > > the supply ground and also safe if someone should come in
contact
 > with
 >  > a
 >  >  > > > streamer. Can someone tell me the power range (ie. volt/amp
rating)
 >  > that
 >  >  > >is
 >  >  > > > safe.  I am assuming that there is a point at which they become
 >  >  > >potentially
 >  >  > > > lethal and below that point they are safe. I have a 7.5 KV NST I
 > would
 >  >  > >like
 >  >  > > > to do something with but I don't know if I can use it for the
this
 >  > type
 >  >  > >of
 >  >  > > > coil. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
 >  >  > > >
 >  >  > > > Emmett
 >  >  > > >
 >  >  > > >
 >  >  > >
 >  >
 >  >
 >  >
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >